Monday, May 08, 2006

Sell Out in Europe? In more ways than one...

Of course, one will not find this article sympathetic to Christianity, much less to Catholicism...
In recent weeks, the Vatican has made attack after attack on the upcoming movie version of The Da Vinci Code opening May 12, but that's not stopping filmgoers in predominantly Catholic countries from rushing out to buy tickets. I'm told that the forthcoming showings of Da Vinci Code are already sold out, or almost sold out, in Italy, Spain and Mexico based on advance ticket sales. The latest Vatican salvo was reported today: in an anti-Da Vinci Code documentary, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church. Arinze's appeal comes after another high Vatican official called for a boycott of the film. The Vatican's position is that because other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs, Christians should get tough. Meanwhile, all these attacks are simply generating even more publicity for the already well-hyped film. Perhaps Sony, the producer of the movie, has the Vatican on PR retainer?

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